The Shireen Observatory was founded in 2023 and officially launched on May 11, 2023, coinciding with the first anniversary of the martyrdom of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh — killed by Israeli occupation forces in the Jenin camp while covering the occupation's violations and ongoing aggression against the Palestinian people.
Since her martyrdom — and amid the shock and pain her assassination left with everyone who knew her, especially the fellow journalists who lived alongside her daily in the field — we, as Shireen's colleagues, decided to found this Observatory to carry her name. Its purpose is to continue the work for which she gave her life: documenting and exposing the crimes and violations of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, and conveying the truth of what is happening in Palestine to the world. We document — with numbers, names, and data — the details of the atrocities committed daily against the Palestinian people in the occupied territories: killing, detention, abuse, and the plundering of land and resources, drawing on the reports and data of official and human-rights institutions, both local and international.
The establishment of this Observatory is a message from Palestinian media professionals to the occupation: the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh and the targeting of journalists working in Palestine has not and will not stop Palestinian journalists from conveying the voice of the victims of the Israeli occupation to the world. The name Shireen Abu Akleh will remain alive in the hearts of Palestinians forever.